We are Code-Breakers
by QueenYoda
Summary: The long awaited sequel to "We are Family." It has been two years since Padme Amidala married Anakin Skywalker, and thus become a member of a rare and beautiful community. However, when tragedy strikes in the form of Jabiim, the Jedi family must face the prospect of losing one of their own, and come to terms with the difference between attachment and love.
1. Chapter 1

_Whatever makeup they had put on Anakin made his strong jaw stand out. Padme could not help but trace the smooth outline of scruff on his chin in the bright stage with her eyes. Her hands were busy gently rinsing the plate in her hand. On her right, Sentara and Tilda were giggling madly, pleased by Obi-wan's look of sheepish embarrassment. The news anchor was flirting with the elder Jedi, shamelessly._

 _Anakin looked as if he were enjoying it immensely. He watched Obi-wan's rapidly blushing face with eyes twinkling with amusement. It made a strand of his curly chocolate hair fall into his face. Padme could have sighed. How did he manage to look so damned_ _ **cute?**_ _He was nearly thirty years old._

 _"_ _Rumors have it you two have the longest friendship in the Jedi Order," Anayel Einna was saying, her long pink legs crossed just so that her skirt rode up a bit higher than was normally polite. Her cat-like ears twitched as diamond shaped eyes watched Obi-wan squirm with amused adoration. Padme had to admit that Obi-wan's flustering was funny._

 _"_ _Well, I wouldn't say_ _ **the**_ _longest," Anakin replied, smiling. He did not seem at all uncomfortable, which was probably one of the reasons the Council sent him to these sort of interviews, allowing the galaxy to glimpse the Jedi family through the friendly face of their favorite hero._

 _Anayel, thankfully, did not try flirting with him, probably because he was furthest away. Only three seats resided on the stage. In the rows beyond, an audience of several thousand watched the interview with fascination. It was rare that Jedi conceded to talking about their lifestyles unless strictly necessary._

 _Obi-wan, pointedly, never thought it was necessary._

 _"_ _We're coming up on the… What is it now, master? Twenty years since we met?" He wondered. Obi-wan turned his attention from trying to escape Anayel's flirtatious wink to give his partner a dry look._

 _"_ _I try not to think about age, Anakin, thank you," he drawled._

 _Padme tittered with Sentara and Tilda. "He's not the only one! If the Council would allow it, Qui-gon would mind trick the galaxy into believing he was twenty-five!" Xanatos called from the living room where he and his former master were having their mid-afternoon tea together in Kennor's quarters. Qui-gon said nothing, but suddenly a dish rag soaked with cleansing liquid flew from Sentara's hand to slap Xanatos behind the ear._

 _"_ _Ow! Frivolous use of the Force!"_

 _The rag floated back to Sentara's hand politely. "Thanks, master!" Sentara called over her shoulder without looking away from the holovision._

 _"_ _However, I believe twenty years is… Close," the audience snickered. Obi-wan smiled charmingly, winking at the camera. Padme snorted. Such a tease! "That is not an odd occurrence, mind you," Obi-wan told Anayel matter of factly. "Remember, the Jedi Order is raised together. I've known many of my friends my entire life. Most Master and apprentice teams stay together for ten years or more…"_

 _"_ _Though_ _ **my**_ _Padawan might send me into an early grave first," Anakin interrupted. The audience laughed and applauded. Obi-wan shook his head._

 _"_ _That being said, Anakin and I had an interesting start to our friendship," Anakin snorted_

 _"_ _You thought I was annoying!" He accused his best friend. Obi-wan gave him a look that clearly read 'I still think you're annoying,' but did not deny the allegation._

 _"_ _You were nine when you two met, weren't you Master Skywalker?" Anayel asked, watching them with a grin of amusement. In the two years she had been married to Anakin Skywalker, Padme had learned that most everyone saw these two in a similar light._

 _"_ _Yes I was," Anakin admitted, smiling softly. "I was the youngest initiate ever to be apprenticed in the Jedi order. Most are chosen when they turn thirteen. Obi-wan raised me…"_

 _"_ _Which may account for why I think you're annoying," Anakin jabbed an elbow into his teacher's ribs._

 _"_ _And apparently well, because we're still getting assigned to missions together to this day, even though I was Knighted nearly eight years ago," he glanced at Obi-wan suspiciously. Padme assumed they were communicating through The Force again. Obi-wan had probably expressed dubiety at Anakin's Knightly maturity._

 _"_ _I see. Master Kenobi, what is it like to work with a former student?" Obi-wan shrugged._

 _"_ _Much the same, actually. I give an order, he ignores me. He delegates the most difficult tasks to me, I do them out of exasperation," Anakin scoffed a laugh in time with the audience, though his was sarcastic. He must have expressed his derision in the Force, because Obi-wan chuckled softly._

 _"_ _I jest. It's as much an honor as it's always been, though heightened. Just when I think I know my old student, he surprises me again. I wish every teacher in the galaxy could feel the pride I do when I work with Anakin Skywalker." The audience applauded loud enough so that it drowned out Anayel's delighted exclamation at the shade of red Anakin's face bled._

 _"_ _Ahhh!" Padme and Sentara cried together, hearts contracting at the simple honesty. Tilda wiped away an imaginary tear exaggeratedly._

 _"_ _Attachment! I call code breaker!" Xanatos joked, though he sounded just as touched._

 _Anakin cleared his throat, trying to dislodge the lump Padme knew was probably sitting in his chest. "Ah, he's just saying that because he knows I'm the pilot on our next mission," he mock growled, though he laid a hand on Obi-wan's arm discreetly. "He hates flying, and our journey to Jabiim will be long," Obi-wan looked ready to face palm as Anakin's eyes widened imperceptibly. He had realized his mistake too late. Anayel's face brightened._

 _"_ _Ah! The council will not forgive that anytime soon!" Qui-gon growled in sympathy. Padme shook her head as her comm. link chimed. She sighed and answered it._

 _"_ _Captain Typho?" she asked._

 _"_ _Yes, ma'am. I just wanted to let you know that the Senator from Alderran is in your office," ah yes. Bail was coming over to discuss trading policies from the planets in the inner rim to the smaller planets orbiting between mid and inner rim planets, like Mandalore._

 _"_ _Thank you, Captain. Tell him to hold tight. I'm on my way," she disconnected the call and finished scraping the last plate in the pile. Sentara took it with a smile and jerk of her head._

 _"_ _Go save the galaxy, senator," she laughed. Padme grinned and kissed her sister in law on the cheek, squeezing Tilda's shoulder in farewell._

 _"_ _I've not heard about that! Secret mission, huh?" Anayel was asking on the holovision, insufferable now. Obi-wan took her curiosity in stride._

 _"_ _Well it was secret a minute ago," he sighed. Anakin grinned back sheepishly._

 _"_ _You know I was never good at discretion, master," he chirped, and the audience applauded and laughed._

 _"_ _That's how liberty dies, you know," Sentara was joking as Padme rushed out of the kitchen. She kissed Qui-gon on the temple, playfully slapped Xanatos upside the head and raced to grab her jacket from where it hung by the door. "With thunderous applause."_

* * *

Hey! For all my readers of The New Galaxy, that story is coming along with more difficulty than its predecessors, so I give you this fic in compensation (and apology) for the long wait. It will have a tooth-rotting fluffiness... In some parts. Otherwise, the end will be a happy one... Kind of. Anyway, love you all tons!

~QueenYoda


	2. Chapter 2

_Four Months Later:_

Padme and Ahsoka nearly accidentally killed one another in the intersection where East and West Temple met.

Naboo's Senator narrowly avoided ramming into her husband's Padawan by maybe a second's breath, skidding to an abrupt halt so hard she almost twisted her ankle. Ahsoka did likewise, their eyes meeting in a sudden clash of surprise and fear. Around them, a slew of healers raced past, expressions morphed into seriousness, commanding their Padawan's in voices made curt by urgency.

"Where are they?!" Padme gasped. Ahsoka reached out to place a steadying hand on her shoulder. Yet her hands were ice, trembling.

"They just landed in the docking bay," she informed her, her normally cheery voice clipped. Padme knew that Ahsoka had heard Anakin's call for help through the Force, as loud and clear as if they had been sitting next to each other. "Masters Qui-gon and Kennor are already en route. Sentara has been sent for," Padme gave a short nod.

"Then let's go," she said. They dashed down the corridor, Padme's hand still in Ahsoka's tight grip as the two women raced into the docking pad. Already the healers had surrounded _The Twilight_. Small maintenance droids were ushered away from the chaos by other Jedi. Padawan's were hurried along unless they wore the healer's insignia.

Slowly, the landing hatch opened, the ramp dragging itself to the ground as if it had been given a great chore. Anakin stumbled out, raising a hand to blot the sudden influx of light. His expression was morphed into pain and terror not for himself. He pointed inside _The Twilight._

"Help him," he pleaded softly, voice trembling. The healers rushed past the Chosen One in a wave of gurney's and force healing crystals. Ahsoka rushed forward behind Padme.

"Master!" Anakin looked up at the call. His eyes were rimmed with purple, his shoulders slouched, his mouth twisted into a grimace. When he saw Padme, his eyes twinkled with an emotion so deep it shivered up her spine even without use of the Force. She threw her arms around her husband at once, holding tight.

Anakin returned the hug weakly, burying his face in her neck. She felt wetness seep into her shoulder, and knew that it was even worse than she had imagined.

"Anakin? Ani," she gently pushed him back, holding him by the shoulders. He looked down, unwilling to meet her eyes. "Are you alright?"

Ahsoka suddenly gasped from behind them. The healers had situated the other Jedi unto a stretcher. The long gurney quickly hovered down the ramp, carrying on it something that looked like a bloodied corpse. Had Anakin picked up a dead animal on his way home, too?

Padme covered her mouth as the gurney drew nearer, realization bowling over into astonishment. Obi-wan looked… Terrible. As if his skin had been turned inside out, revealing bloody flesh and bone beneath. His hair was caked with maroon clumps. Padme decided not to think about what those clumps were.

His clothes hung like tattered curtains across a frame once bulky with muscle, but now emaciated from undernourishment. His beard had grown over his face, stretching across his cheekbones to his chest. Vomit slithered up Padme's throat, churning uneasily in her stomach. This was…. Inhuman. Anakin looked away as the healers ran past them into the Temple with Obi-wan in tow.

"Oh, master," Ahsoka murmured, looking up at her own teacher. She reached out, brushed a hand against his mechanical arm worriedly. " _Are_ you alright?" Padme wanted to know that too. Her eyes swept Anakin's frame, searching for any injuries. He appeared to be fine, though. He gave a single nod, chin trembling.

"Master Skywalker!" One of the apprentice healers called, her bald head popping out from behind the corner where the other healers had vanished. Anakin looked up. "We may need you!" Anakin was moving before she had even finished.

"I… I don't… I'm sorry, I have to go," Anakin mumbled, briefly meeting her eyes. Then he shook his head and ran off, leaving Ahsoka and Padme staring apprehensively after the party.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the cavalry arrived. Padme and Ahsoka were sitting in front of the med-bay doors on the floor when they did. Qui-gon, Garen, Kennor, Dray and Kina-Bae. Xanatos was on his way back from a mission, alongside Quin-lan. Yoda and Windu were not five steps behind. When Ahsoka just shook her head, Qui-gon's face fell. His gaze went to the opaque doors, and he gulped. "Patience," Mace whispered, setting a hand on his shoulder.

A half hour later, Sentara rushed past the anxious family sitting outside of the healer's ward. Without glancing their way, she entered the Jedi sanctum, barking orders and demanding answers. She vanished behind opaque glass doors like an apparition. An apprentice brought them all chairs by decree of Master Yoda.

An hour later, Bant came out of the opaqueness, shivering. Without a word, she knelt at Qui-gon's side and pressed her large globular forehead to his knee in a mute plea for forgiveness, gripping his fingers tightly in her own. "I cannot bear it any longer," she choked out, in a moment of weakness that defied every rule of Jedi decorum. "He is in other hands now."

Two hours later, Anakin silently and reluctantly slipped free of the healer's ward. He did not react when he saw them, but Padme wasted not a second before she had pulled him into her arms again. He went limply, not touching her. His fingers were still damp with his master's blood. His eyes were wide and unseeing from exhaustion. No one asked him what had happened. They merely moved aside to allow him to take his seat among them.

More time passed until it all began to jumble together. Anakin slept fitfully, his head in Padme's lap. He murmured and twitched from nightmares, no matter how many times Qui-gon or Ahsoka quietly nudged his mind with the Force. Padme stroked his hair gently, trying to ignore how painfully he gripped her fingers. She declined an invitation to Senator Chu-Chi's art gala for charity, even though she knew Obi-wan would have wanted her to attend. He would have wanted her to take care of Ani, more. She had promised him that.

The news spread faster than lightspeed, Mace told them with no small amount of scorn. It was all over the news. Every feature had mentioned Master Skywalker's miraculous victory in the tragedy that was Jabiim, and Master Kenobi's fantastic return from the dead. The rest of the galaxy celebrated, thinking that since the missions were finished, the fight was too. Padme scoffed aloud, soothingly curled her fingers into Anakin's sweat soaked hair. They were fools.

Eventually, Xanatos arrived with Quin-lan trailing him. The two men skidded to a stop outside the opaque doors. "What is it?" Quin gasped, seeing them all there. "Is it bad?" Xanatos did not even have to ask. Anakin's distant silence and Qui-gon's eyes closed in tight meditation were answer enough. His eyes narrowed.

"Who did this?" He hissed.

"Asajj," Anakin spat. "A Sith-spawned witch named _Asajj Ventress,"_ they said no more.

Night had fallen by the time the doors opened to allow Sentara out. A small surgeon's mask covered her mouth and petite nose. "Mama!" Kina-Bae cried, surging to her feet. She and Dray wrapped their mother in a tight hug, understanding the toll that some types of saving had on her. Sentara hugged them both tightly, mumbled something in their ears that Padme knew was "I love you." Anakin stood on quivering knees. Padme stood too, wrapped his arm around her shoulders to steady him. The other Jedi pressed hands to the lightsabers on their hips, hidden beneath walls of cloak and impenetrable years of training.

But this wasn't their battle.

Sentara reached into her apron and pulled out a cylinder object, splattered with blood. She handed it to Qui-gon with utmost respect. The older master took his former Padawan's lightsaber, stricken. "He isn't dead," he whispered, with certainty. Padme gripped the tiny emerald angel hanging around her neck, prayed for Siri's strength now.

Sentara lowered the mask. "No," she agreed tiredly. "He's alive, but the damage done is… Extensive. It might be irreversible," she said.

"What does that mean?" Kennor wondered. Sentara inhaled a shaky breath.

"It may be temporary," she tried to explain, staggering through the sentence. "Things like this take time, so there's a chance we might be able too…" Noticing the blank looks, Sentara finally sighed and hugged her children to her, chillingly. "He's hooked up to the machines now. They're keeping him alive," Anakin buckled in Padme's grasp.

"Force," he choked. Ahsoka appeared on his other side, desperately trying to help Padme keep him upright when the two women were staggering beneath the shock of this announcement.

"In surgery, I've never seen anything so… _Cruel._ It is highly probable that he will never gain consciousness again," Padme heard Qui-gon's gasp before the blood rushing in her ears drowned out all sound. Anakin collapsed into the chair behind him, exhaustion and sorrow finally gaining the upper hand. Bant and Garen's faces paled. Sentara stood before the family, lips quivering, and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but… Perhaps we should prepare to say goodbye."


	3. Chapter 3

**_Two Days Later:_**

They each visited Obi-wan in pairs or groups, as if afraid that seeing him alone would shatter their courage. The council saw him as one, cultivated The Light Side around him as an older sibling would cover a sick child with their favorite blanket.

Yoda and Qui-gon sat cantankerously by Obi-wan's bedside with a Sabacc board between them, playing for low stakes and debating ancient Jedi philosophy.

Xanatos and Kennor regaled the unconscious man with hilarious stories from their apprenticeships, laughing uproariously at their own stupid jokes and tearing up at Obi-wan's expense.

Bant, Garen and Quin-lan consistently carried in cute babies that the Order had recently recruited, letting the simple joy burbling out of the children replace the dull whir of the machines keeping their friend alive.

Sentara, Ahsoka and Tilda would waltz in with new stacks of various plays and novels from Madame Jocasta. They would take turns reading the plays aloud, creating a three-person performance that would have delighted Obi-wan were he awake.

Padme and Anakin brought only themselves. Padme had convinced her husband to take a shower and change. He had slept a few hours since his return and everyone had plied him with so much food he had been sick more than once.

Padme told Obi-wan the small pieces of gossip from the Senate building, interspersing it with political jargon that she knew the Jedi Master would have liked. Anakin did not say anything the first two days after he returned, and Padme did not push. She knew that two months of searching for his master, relentlessly, just to find him like this, had fairly crushed him.

At the end of the second day, Anakin broke his vow of silence. Padme was sitting on Obi-wan's left side, holding one of his bandaged hands in her own. There was such damage to his hands that there was barely any skin visible, Padme gently stroked the appendage in her grasp anyway with a thumb while she spoke. Anakin sat on Obi-wan's right, staring into space with a haunted look.

"Senator Kenobi took the floor today. He suggested a new amendment to the torture prohibition bill. I never knew you had a cousin in the Galactic Senate," Padme scolded Obi-wan with a teasing she found hollow since he could not respond. There wasn't even a twitch behind his closed lids.

"It will take at least two more years to hammer out the details, but it will get done," Padme mustered a small smile. "I know you'd like that," she whispered, gently reaching over to swipe a lock of brittle auburn hair away.

She glanced up at Anakin. "Your apprentice is being pensive again," she whispered to Obi-wan, as if it were a secret. Anakin blinked back into awareness slowly. "Brooding, just like his master," Anakin did not deny that. He gave her a weak smile, grateful for the attempt to cheer him up.

Padme sighed and leaned back in the soft seat Master Shaak Ti had brought her. "Say something," she pleaded softly. Anakin shrugged.

"What do you want me to say?" He asked softly.

Padme squeezed Obi-wan's hand. "How about that you know this isn't your fault?" She asked. Anakin was silent for a span of long moments, in which Padme waited for him to start blaming himself or another. Whichever came easiest right now.

"The Council won't let me go after her," ah, he was blaming Ventress then. Good. Padme liked that he was letting himself off the hook for once. Nevertheless, she squeezed Obi-wan's hand in her own consolingly. _I know, I know, a Jedi is not supposed to cast blame. I've got him._

"You know why, Ani," she addressed her husband. "You're too close to this one," Anakin's fists clenched so tightly she saw the skin over his knuckles turn white. He still did not look at her, staring at the ground at his feet instead.

"Of course I am, Padme! Who-" He broke off, glancing at Obi-wan as if to apologize for raising his voice. Padme blinked away tears. Even unconscious and unresponsive, Obi-wan was still dishing out lessons on respect. "Who _isn't_ close to this?" Anakin demanded, quieter. "This is _my_ master, my best friend! I'm the only one with the drive to catch that… That…" He let out a string of words in Huttese that made Padme cringe. She shook her head.

"You are not the only one who cares about him, Anakin Skywalker," she reminded him sternly.

Anakin's head snapped up, His azure eyes were blazing like twin balls of blue fire, smoldering itself into oblivion. "Oh, yeah? Then why did everyone else give up so easily? I have spent _two months_ searching the galaxy for him. Where were all of you?!" Padme had been searching the galaxy too, sending out pleas amongst all the governments in the galaxy to send out soldiers. _Naboo_ had fairly been ransacked, a giant manhunt underway as the planet scoured its abandoned castles for the lost hero. Padme had slept as little as Anakin had these past two months.

Indignant anger bridled in her chest. Outside of the Senate building, Padme was not required to hold back. "Not parading through the universe breaking down walls," she snapped, dryly. "No one gave up, Ani! Xanatos and Kennor went to every dark underground on Courascant, bribing anyone for answers," and the amount of money they had spent had nearly sent even Yoda into an early grave, but the Jedi Master had never commanded them to stop or slow down. He had merely given the funds discreetly, but no less endlessly.

"Qui-gon and Dex spent countless nights calling every informant," Padme remembered. "Sentara had every hospital and clinic in the Republic on high alert! Your _Padawan_ snuck out six times with Artoo to roam the universe searching for you _both_! So don't you dare believe that we gave up!" Obi-wan himself probably would have been embarrassed by the lengths gone too in order to bring him home. None of them had cared. After all: "We are _family_!" She finished her tirade with a final harrumph, and as soon as she had finished, she flopped back into her seat tiredly. Great. Now she was shouting, and Anakin's eyes had gone wide with realization.

He exhaled a trembling breath. "Alright," he whispered at last. "I'm sorry," he had better be. Padme fought down her own rage. She knew that Anakin was only acting this way because it was _Obi-wan._ The glue that held the entire family together, the friend that had left a hole in their lives when he had been kidnapped.

She breathed out slowly. "Dammit Ani," she growled, running a hand through her hair. It was greasy with sweat. "Just… Stay here, ok? Let the Council handle Ventress for now. Obi-wan needs you," she told him. Anakin pressed his hands together, creating a single shivering fist. He pressed it to his forehead, fighting an inner battle.

"I- I can't bear seeing him like this," he breathed in a tiny voice. "I need to do something, go somewhere. I have to _fix_ it," the perennial problem. Padme sighed and looked down, absentmindedly swiping a speck of lint from Obi-wan's arm.

"You and me both, Anakin," she muttered.

They were silent then, both aching with dual helplessness and a burning need to fix it. That was one of the traits she and Anakin had bonded when they met. They felt the all-consuming need to vanquish darkness, to defeat injustice, to spread truth and freedom, to help fix the galaxy. That was what made him a stunning Jedi and her a great Senator.

Not often were they good at patience. That had been Obi-wan's job.

At length, Anakin spoke. He rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "It was my fault," he ground out between clenched teeth. "I opened my big mouth and announced to the galaxy where we were going. She was waiting for us. She was waiting _for him_!" Padme shivered. She knew that there were many people-so many- that would hunt down a Jedi for sport. Yet Ventress had not just hunted Obi-wan, she had _stalked_ him. Like an evil spirit in the night.

"Why him?" She asked quietly. Anakin made a powerless noise.

"I don't know. Apparently, the Council has been trying to locate her for awhile. She was trained by a former Jedi, but when he fell off the map, so did she. They didn't want another Dooku," Padme looked down at Obi-wan's face, cut and bruised so badly that it was a miracle it had still retained basic bone structure.

"That's why you were sent to Jabiim?"

"Yes," Anakin smiled sadly. "Obi-wan wanted to save her."

Of course he had. Where Anakin and Padme wanted to fix the galaxy, Obi-wan would have given anything to save everyone in it. Such was his personal oath, a burden he carried willfully, but never easily.

Now. "You know he would never blame you."

"Don't, Padme. I know you're just trying to help but…." Anakin groaned, leaning his elbows on his knees tiredly. "I just… I cannot believe I was so _stupid,_ so careless during that interview, and after? Padme, I… I _left_ him! I have never done that _in my life._ What was I thinking?" his voice warbled uncontrollably, like a pod racer that was losing its balance, about to tip into the unforgiving sand.

That image was _not_ helping her remain calm. "Anakin, it was either you leave or ten thousand people would be killed because Ventress planted an atomic bomb in the city square! Obi-wan _ordered_ you to leave him!"

"I don't care. I should have stayed. At least we could have died together instead of…"

"Don't!" Padme interrupted sharply, her heart squeezed breathless by the mere idea of… Force, she would never have been able to bear it. Anakin's death would have annihilated her. Padme squeezed her necklace into her hands, hoping to feel its familiar steadiness. "Don't say that. Don't you _ever_ say that to me, do you understand?"

A gentle nod. Padme settled again, though her heart continued to thump madly in her chest. Anakin would be the death of her one day. "Blaming yourself won't make him better," she tried a different tactic.

Anakin didn't take to it. "He may never heal regardless. I've never seen a being tortured like this. This was… This is _sick_ , Padme. This was intentional and _slow_ and… She cut him off from the Force. He was delirious. How could you torture a being that barely knows what's going on? What's the point? I don't…" Anakin's voice broke and he looked away.

"I don't understand such cruelty," Padme finished for him.

"I can't imagine ever having a mind that could even _think_ like that," Padme nodded in agreement. "I hate her. I hate her so much. We were there to _save_ her, to bring her to The Temple! Why would she…? What did she even want?" Anakin was gasping, the rapidly infinite monotonies that had run through his mind while Obi-wan was gone finally spilling out to land at Padme's feet, bloody and raw.

"I would have given it to her. I would have given her _anything,_ but there was _nothing._ No ransom. No bragging. No sign of him anywhere. She just held him there to hurt him. She just took him from me. Why?" Anakin pressed his palms into his eyes. A few tears soaked out anyway.

Padme's heart broke for him. "Why would she do that? Force, Padme… He's been captured before, injured before, but always for a reason! I've always been able to find him, but this time months went by and I…" A choked sob. Padme set Obi-wan's hand down and crossed the small room, coming to stand behind Anakin's chair. She wrapped both arms around his chest and shoulders, hugging him tight.

"I couldn't find him," Anakin sobbed. "I tried but I-I just couldn't. She didn't even let him have The Force, I couldn't _feel_ him. Why would she do that? Why did she have to hurt him? I would have done anything if she just _left him alone,"_ he clutched at her arms with a bruising grip, turning so that he could bury his face into the crook of her neck. Padme clutched him to her, silent tears dripping down her own face.

"I don't know, Ani," she whispered past the lump in her throat. "I don't understand that kind of cruelty," how could someone just stand there, knowing that they were causing pain, the family pain, the universe a good soul and not… Feel guilt? Feel self-disgust? How could they not stop?

Anakin had curled in his seat, pressing long legs into his chest like a child while he hung unto her as if he were drowning. "I just wanted him back," he wept into her neck. "That's all I want. Bring him back. Give him back to me," she looked at Obi-wan, still unconscious, over Anakin's shoulder.

Padme had to look away, the identical green crystal around her neck pulsing slowly with a sorrow so deep it would consume them both. The one around Anakin's neck did likewise, two hearts aching together.

 _"_ _Give him back to me."_


	4. Chapter 4

_Two months later:_

 _It took no more than eight council edicts to get Anakin and Ahsoka to go out on missions again. Having Qui-gon order them from the Temple had been extraordinarily helpful as well. Nevertheless, the two had left reluctantly._

 _"_ _You'll comm. me if_ _ **anything**_ _happens?" Anakin had insisted as Padme walked them to a Jedi starship. "If he so much as twitches?"_

 _"_ _Yes, Anakin, I will comm. You," Padme agreed, smiling a little. She stretched up on her tiptoes to land a kiss on his cheek. Ahsoka was waiting at the edge of the landing pad, brows scrunched into worry as she gnawed on her bottom lip. Padme pushed Anakin off playfully. "Take care of your Padawan," she told him. Anakin snorted._

 _"_ _She's more mature than I am at this point. You'll comm. Me?"_

 _"_ _Yes!"_

Now, Padme sat in her and Anakin's apartment, debating whether she should comm. him or not. Ahead of her, a soft breeze burdened with carbon emissions wafted into the room. It stirred the white curtains hanging by the deck.

Obi-wan had allowed Padme to drag him out to find those. He was very adept at interior decorating.

She sighed and played a minute more with the comm. device in her hand before setting it on the small meditation table in front of her. She pressed a button, unsurprised when Anakin answered immediately.

"Angel," he greeted, his handsome features a bit more relaxed. The distance had done him some good it seemed, even though it had only been three days since they left. "Is everything alright?" No, it really wasn't.

Padme mustered a smile for him. "Everyone is in one piece," she replied, cautiously weighing her words. Anakin would be able to sense a lie. However, technically, everyone was still without missing limbs. "How's the mission going?" Anakin shrugged.

"Ahsoka is rusty…" A garbled voice yelled something insulting from afar. Anakin's mouth twitched at the corners. "Otherwise, all is well," Ahsoka appeared at Anakin's side, lightheartedly shoving him away.

"At least my joints don't creak, sky-guy! Padme, you should find a younger model, this one is toast," Ahsoka informed her, jerking a thumb to indicate her teacher. Padme could not help but giggle a little at Anakin's indignant expression. "Anyway, how are things at The Temple? Miss us yet?" Padme's shoulders sagged.

"Yeah," she admitted, sincerely. "We all really do."

Anakin frowned, crossing his arms worriedly. "Padme? What is it?" he asked, quietly reading her voice and hearing the pain she did not try to disguise. Padme twiddled with her thumbs on the ground, looked down. Her heart felt like lead in her chest. Her eyes were dry and itchy from crying.

"You told me to comm. you, " she said, and hated how much it sounded like an excuse. Anakin cocked a worried brow, crossing his arms as if to steel himself for her next words.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"And... Well, Masters Shaak Ti and Luminara found and captured Ventress. She was brought here yesterday. Qui-gon and I went to go see her today," outwardly, neither changed their facial expression, however Padme could see in the way Anakin stiffened and Ahsoka blinked with dangerous slowness that her meaning was not lost on them.

"And?" Ahsoka growled, hands straying to the lightsabers on her hips.

Padme hugged herself, let her eyes wander over the holographs to the straying white curtain. It flapped in the breezes like a surrender flag, or doves wings. Like peace in the winds of vileness.

She wondered if it was an omen. Peace came in many forms. "She pleads guilty to all charges, including torture and attempted massacre," she reported, wrenching her attention back to the Jedi.

Her husband, naturally, was irate. "Of course she did! I _saw_ her!" Anakin cried.

"She's barely older than you, Ahsoka," Padme went on. "Yet there was something… She was so disturbed. She did not display any shame at all, not the slightest hint," it had made Padme angry actually. She had been forced to leave the room while Ventress cackled madly behind her, overjoyed to have brought such suffering upon her fellow man.

"What's her punishment?" Anakin demanded.

Padme shrugged uncomfortably, suddenly wishing that she had brought something to cover her bare shoulders. The news tasted like acid in her mouth. "The Council has yet to decide. If we try her as a regular citizen of The Republic, then the sentence will certainly be life imprisonment. However, since she's a Force user…"

"We'd have to hold her in The Citadel," Anakin breathed. "Cut off from The Force forever." Ahsoka cringed in pity. Padme nodded.

"Master Yoda is reluctant to put anyone through that, no matter their crimes. However, if she's tried as a Jedi…"

"Death," Ahsoka finished darkly. Anakin's face twisted with ironic rage.

"Death is what she _deserves,"_ he growled bitterly. "Go figure The Council would find her when I'm not there to dish out _real_ justice," Ahsoka recoiled a bit, shocked by his words. Padme blinked dispassionately. After today, there was a lot of justice to be dished out. Padme sighed, feeling vomit slither up her throat as memories of the days screams echoed in her mind.

 _"_ _No! Please, don't! Don't!"_

She bowed her head. "Padme?" Anakin asked. "You're keeping something from us. I can sense it," it was times like these when Padme remembered she was married to one of the strongest Force users in the Jedi Order. It was inconvenient.

She twiddled with her thumbs in her lap. "Ani," a deep breath. "Obi-wan woke up today," the shock on Anakin's face was almost comical.

"He _what_? What did he say? Where is he now? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!" He cried in one rush of breath.

Padme wished she could give him _good news._ She really did. "He woke up halfway through us questioning her. Somehow, Qui-gon says that he sensed Ventress in the building, even though they were on opposite sides of the Temple. He woke up… Terrified. Fighting to get away, and she must have known because she just _laughed."_

"Oh, no," Ahsoka breathed.

"Sleemo! Sith witch!" Anakin shouted, eyes blazing with dangerous emotion. "Hasn't he suffered enough?! Why would Yoda even allow her in The Temple? _Dammit_!" He slammed a fist on something beneath him, and Ahsoka jumped.

Padme continued. She felt the same. "We ran to him as fast as we could. He was trying to escape his bed with The Force, sloppily. He didn't know where he was and when… When we arrived… Ani, he didn't recognize us."

Anakin and Ashoka exchanged a puzzled glance. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that when Bant tried to calm him, he stared at her and flinched away. We called his name and he did not know who we were talking too," Ahsoka looked as if she might be sick. Anakin looked as if he might cry.

"Not even Qui-gon? He didn't recognize _Qui-gon_?" Anakin choked frantically. A tear raced down Padme's cheek as she recalled the look on Qui-gon's face, when he had called his last apprentice and only received terror. Padme could see his splintered heart in wise and tired eyes, had heard the fragments of a broken master when he croaked out Obi-wan's name.

"Not at all. I tried to slip Siri's crystal into his hand. I thought it would calm him! But he… Flinched away. He thought I was trying to hurt him," Padme rubbed her temples, fighting back more tears but they slipped down her face anyway. "I would never hurt him," she whispered desperately, repeating the phrase she had told the disheveled Jedi Master, over and over.

 _"_ _I would never hurt you! Obi-wan, it's me. It's Padme!"_

"Oh Force. Force," Anakin whispered, his voice shattered with remorse, shaking his head. "I should have been there. I could have gotten through to him!" Padme shook her head.

"Anakin, we were all there! Qui-gon, Xanatos, Sentara, Garen, Bant…. He did not know who any of us were. He was so disorientated and afraid. He didn't react to Siri's Force crystal. I don't think you could have helped," _I think it just would have broken your heart._

Anakin was still, stunned. Ahsoka bit her fist as if to hold back sobs. Suddenly, the Padawan shook her head. "Excuse me," she implored before fleeing the sight of the comm. Link. Padme watched her go, painfully. Anakin looked after her, sighing. Silence rose like a wave between them, a separation more profound than the physical stars and planets actually in the way.

Anakin tried to break it first. "Is he still awake?" he asked.

Padme shook her head, swiped away a tear. "No. Bant was forced to knock him out because he was trying to detach himself from the machines keeping him alive. We're back at square one."

"He's comatose again?"

"With no signs of waking up. Ventress was escorted to the other side of the planet, in a secure prison. She won't stop smiling," Anakin's fists clenched.

"She's doing this to him somehow! I'm coming home," he determined.

And this was why Padme had been reluctant to tell him. No good news. Never any good news. "The Council forbids i," Anakin's face stormed with shock and betrayal. Padme tried to appeal to his reason. "Your _mission_ isn't done yet, Anakin," she pointed out. Anakin, as she had expected, exploded.

"My _master_ needs me! They must be insane!"

"The _galaxy_ needs you. Your duty is to the greater good _,_ _Master_ Skywalker," she stressed. "What would Obi-wan want you to do?" Anakin's shoulders slumped, as if the question had stolen energy from him. Qui-gon had warned her it might.

"Padme," Anakin breathed. "I'm scared for him," had he been there earlier today, he would have been stark terrified. Padme gripped the crystal around her neck tightly, and nodded.

"Me too."

He looked up. "How are you doing, angel?"

She inhaled a shuddering breath. "He was so… Scared, Ani. I've never seen him so afraid, and never of me. It broke my heart. I would never hurt him!" She repeated, pleading with Anakin to understand. He nodded sympathetically.

"I know you wouldn't, angel. He knows it too. He's just not himself right now," Padme gazed at her husband miserably. Anakin tried to cheer her up. "Thank you for being there. If I can't be with him, I'm glad you are. At least he's surrounded by the people that love him," yes, even if he didn't know it.

Padme ran a hand through her hair. She had thought that telling Anakin would make her feel better. It didn't. "You should go to your apprentice," she pointed out. Anakin looked reluctant to leave, but nodded.

"Don't give up on him, angel," he advised her, soothingly. "Obi-wan is the strongest man I know. If anyone can fight off that witch's influence, it's him," Padme mustered a smile in response and nodded.

"I know, Ani. May the Force be with you."

"And you." Then he was gone, leaving Padme in complete silence and darkness. She welcomed the change, slowly putting her head in her hands and exhaling a long, slow breath.

Then she wept.


	5. Chapter 5

_Six months Later:_

Months passed. The Council kept Anakin on assignment for months, wisely. They sent him to dangerous spots in the Outer Rim, doing work that left no room for doubt or passions. The Senate did likewise for Padme, throwing her into every fundraising session and complicated vote in Republic history. Both plunged themselves into these opportunities with equal relish so as to forget that it had nearly been a year since Anakin had brought Obi-wan back in tatters.

And he had not opened his eyes since the day Ventress had been captured.

Steadily, time went on. The Temple returned to its daily blooms of energy and enlightenment. The family skirted conversations about Obi-wan casually, as if he was merely away on an extended mission.

Apparently, the year had done Obi-wan some good, though he was not awake to see it. His injuries were mostly healed, scars criss-crossing nearly every inch of his chest and back, but they were only souvenirs in an already sizeable collection, Xanatos assured her. Should he ever wake, his physical body would be nearly healed. It was a cruel twist of irony that he did not show any signs of doing so.

Which, inevitably, was what Mace called them together for.

Padme walked into Qui-gon's quarters beside her husband at his summons. Anakin had returned from Malastare two days previous, and had slept mainly since his return. Padme squeezed his arm affectionately as they strode into the familiar space. Sentara, Xanatos, Ahsoka and Qui-gon were already there. Mace Windu sat on the couch next to Master Jinn. The two old friends were speaking in low tones, drowned out by the low humming of Qui-gon's hover chair.

Ahsoka was in the kitchen attempting to make tea the way she had seen Obi-wan do it. Xanatos was teasing her mercilessly from the sidelines, watching as her attempts spiraled into disaster. Padme was not overly worried. At nearly twenty-one years old, Ahsoka was more than capable of handling herself.

She would be Knighted soon. The idea sent a pang of remorse to Padme's soul. Obi-wan would have wanted to see that.

"Padme!" Sentara cried upon seeing her. Padme smiled and returned the hug she was pulled into. It had been a few weeks since she had seen any member of their family.

"Sentara! It's so good to see you, sister," she replied happily, as they pulled apart. Padme held Sentara at arm's length. "How are the kids?" She looked around. "Um… _Where_ are the kids?" She rephrased it.

Sentara shrugged. "Tilda mentioned that this may not be the conversation where I would want them present," she admitted, worriedly. Padme felt a stab of anxiety.

She glanced at the two Jedi Masters, noted Qui-gon's furrowed brows. "What does he want?" She whispered. Sentara shrugged, which only made Padme's anxiety grow. As eldest woman in the house, Sentara was usually privy to every conversation or debate inside of the family headquarters. The fact that she had been omitted made Padme worry. Sentara noticed and tugged her arm.

"Lets not panic yet," she told her reassuringly as she led Padme to the kitchen where Anakin had joined Xanatos in teasing his Padawan.

"That smells kind of burnt, Snips," he snickered.

Ahsoka moved the steaming pot from its place on the stove, sending a vicious glare her master's way. "What do you know about cooking, master?" she scoffed.

"I know that burnt things smell like that. Your thoughts, 'Natos?"

"I have to concur with Ani here, Soka," Xanatos splayed his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "You definitely get points for effort though! Take heart. Force knows effort points are how your master passed any of his schoolwork here at the Temple," he informed her genially. Ahsoka sighed as she fanned the pot irritably.

"That would explain a lot," she agreed dryly.

Anakin reached over to tug at her Padawan braid. Ahsoka ducked the attack, swatting at his hands playfully. "Hey! When did this become about my scholarly tragedies?! I thought we were complimenting my apprentice here," Ahsoka snorted, and swiped at Xanatos's Force controlled spoon that was poking into the concoction still bubbling in the burnt pot.

"More like _harassing,"_ she growled, plucking the spoon from mid-air. She appeared ready to chuck it at Xanatos's head, but thought better of it.

"It's only because I care, Snips."

"Do you get effort points for that, too?"

Padme snickered and wrapped her arms around Anakin's waist from behind, allowing herself to rest against his broad back. Later, she would tell him about the news she had found out that morning. He reached back to squeeze her arm affectionately. "Where's Kennor?" She asked Sentara, ignoring the good-natured mocking happening in the kitchen.

Sentara shoved Xanatos lightly to steal the chair he vacated to avoid her wrath. "He's on his way. Qui-gon sent him to find Garen and Bant. He should be walking in any…" Before Sentara could finish the sentence, the doors swished open. Kennor stood in the doorway ushering Garen and Bant into the folds. Tilda walked in after them, and gave Sentara and Padme a small smile and wave. Padme's anxiety grew, and beneath her hands she felt Anakin shift uncomfortably.

"Greetings, strangers! From what planet do you hail?" Xanatos called, eyes narrowing in suspicion. He sensed it too, then.

"I smell burnt tea," Bant interjected before Garen could reply. Ahsoka laid her head on the counter miserably, groaning.

Anakin patted her on the shoulder consolingly. "It is alright Snips. You're still my favorite Padawan."

"I'm your _only_ Padawan," Ahsoka grumbled against the counter. Anakin shrugged.

"Details."

"Family!" Qui-gon's deep baritone interrupted, from the living area. Each person associated with his successive line looked up. Qui-gon's brows had furrowed together in a deep line of thundering emotion, his eyes were sharp blades of uncertainty. Though Padme could not feel it, she was sure that The Force around him was churning as well. Mace Windu blinked owlishly at them. "Come sit."

It was an order. Kennor responded first, as the eldest brother. Sentara followed him, one arm linked through his as they took up their rightful spot directly across from Qui-gon on the couch, sitting like dutiful apprentices. Xanatos, for once, did not joke as he heeded the call. He took a seat on the couch's spine, one leg thrown over the other directly behind Kennor.

Normally friendly eyes did not leave Mace's face, scrutinizing. Anakin tugged on Padme's hand. She nodded. They stacked themselves unto the couch next to Kennor and Sentara across from Qui-gon. Ahsoka dragged a bar stool over and sat behind her master, arms crossed.

Tilda leaned on the couch behind her husband, scanning their faces with hints of sadness, but even more wariness. Bant and Garen slipped silently next to Master Windu as outsiders to the family. No one failed to notice that Anakin was sitting where Obi-wan normally did. It made the emptiness scream out in the room.

Padme folded Anakin's real hand in her own. "I think you all know what this is about," Mace began, leaning forward. He steepled his fingers together. "Its almost been a year, and Obi-wan shows no signs of waking up," none of them needed the reminder. "The machines can keep him alive indefinitely," a quick glance at Bant to confirm this. She nodded, eyes wide. "However, there is a… Different option."

"Force healing?" Kennor suggested, reasonably.

Qui-gon sighed. His fingers tapped a steady and anxious rhythm on the arm of his hover chair. "Master Yoda and I have been trying that for weeks," he admitted. "He's unresponsive. I can only feel… Pain," a tragic silence echoed in the room. Anakin fidgeted. He was in Obi-wan's seat. The ironic symbolism was not lost on her.

"The Council," Mace began, carefully. "Has conferred on this matter. You all know that Obi-wan would not want to spend the rest of his life confined to that bed," he said. Anakin stiffened next to her.

"What are you saying?" He demanded, darkly.

"I'm suggesting that we take him off those machines, and see what happens," that was the wrong answer.

"He'll _die_!" Anakin exploded.

Qui-gon let out a helpless noise. "Ani… If Obi-wan cannot serve, if he's just _lying_ there… You know he'd rather die," he breathed, and his eyes held the splintered pieces of his broken heart.

"He woke up six months ago," Xanatos argued. Padme shivered at the memory.

 _"_ _Obi-wan, I would never hurt you. Its me! Its Padme!"_

Garen was aghast. "That was a _terror_ response, Xanatos!" He cried. "Ventress must have touched him with The Force, and so he woke up. What could we do? Have her sit in the room with him until he startles awake and nearly kills himself again!? Mind you, he also woke up with total amnesia!"

"He's not saying we scare him awake, he's saying if he did it once, there's a chance he could wake again! Obi-wan is still in there!" Kennor translated. Xanatos threw his hands up.

"See!?"

Mace sighed. "His luminous being, perhaps, but it has been distorted, my friends, _broken._ Is it even fair to keep him chained to life in that much pain?"

Kennor deflated, eyes downcast. Xanatos burned hot with indignance. "My little brother would never give up on any of us!" He cried.

Mace straightened slowly, eyes dark with sorrow. "Obi-wan would do what needed to be _done_ ," he said, and the deepness of his voice rang with truth. "Your little brother has total amnesia, Xanatos. He's _gone."_ That word sucked the breath from Padme's lungs. She blinked back hot tears. Now wasn't the time for them.

"Pain can be overcome," Sentara tried. "Wounds can be healed. Surely, there's something more we can do?" She looked to Bant for assistance. The Mon Calamari healer shook her head.

"Unless you can think of something, Sentara, the Temple healers have exhausted themselves on this for months. We've used every tactic in known history. I've dug through the archives, looking for any cure, no matter how obscure! And we have found nothing. Obi-wan is still in there, but…Sitting. Like he's waiting for something," Her voice wavered as she spoke. "Listen to me, I care about him as much as you all do! But the truth is, this may be the will of The Force." Screw the Force.

"Sentara?" Ahsoka asked.

Sentara wracked her brain for a long moment before she sighed, shoulders slouching. "If the Temple healers cannot help him, then there's nothing I could do. I have no idea," she admitted.

Padme shook her head. "This is Obi-wan we're talking about! Does anyone here think they can stand to let him die?" Xanatos cried. He looked around, alarmed.

"Xanatos," Qui-gon called, calmly. "He's basically dying now. The only thing we're doing at this point is prolonging the process," he glanced to Padme's right, at the man who was fairly vibrating with emotion. "Anakin. You're quiet," he observed.

Padme looked up into Anakin's face. It was hard as stone. "You all know my stance on this," he growled. "That machine gets unhooked over my dead body," and that was that. Padme bit her bottom lip, worriedly.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Skywalker?" Mace sighed.

Anakin shrugged. "Wait until he wakes up."

Mace looked as if he wanted to roll his eyes. "Ah. If he never does?"

"He _will."_

"Anakin…"

"You underestimate my master. He wouldn't leave me," Anakin snapped defensively. He yanked his hand from Padme's grip to cross them over his chest angrily. "He wouldn't leave me," he repeated, with the staunch devotion of the little boy that had promised his mother he would be a Jedi. The same little boy who had watched his mother die from torture in his arms. Padme knew where Anakin's devotion came from, as well as his fear of loss.

If the Jedi Master's stormy eyes were any indication, he knew too.

"No, Anakin, he would never willingly leave any of us," Qui-gon agreed. "That is why it is our duty to _let him go._ Anything less isn't love, but attachment."

The talk of attachment floated over Anakin's head, as usual. "Has anyone considered the idea that Ventress is doing this to him?" Anakin demanded. "Maybe none of us can feel him because she's blocking us, how about that? Maybe he's waiting for someone to _save_ him!"

"The Council believed that too," Windu told him, rationally. "That is why Ventress is kept in Force- dampening binders at all times. She can't touch the Force, Anakin. She hasn't been able too for three months, while awaiting her verdict from the courts," Anakin cursed beneath his breath.

He opened his mouth to say something more when Mace's comm. link chirped, glowing a vibrant red. The Jedi Master stood at once, answering the Council emergency. "Windu. What is it?" he snapped without preamble.

"Master Windu," Master Fisto gasped from the other end. The sound of shooting and wild screams echoed from behind him. "Ventress has escaped!" Padme gasped standing immediately.

 _Obi-wan._

"How?" Mace demanded, astonished.

"She took Senator Organa hostage during her Senate trial. She's managed to escape into the lower levels of Courascant. I'm in pursuit now! But… _Blast_ it!... I could use some assistance!" Mace nodded.

"I'm on my way," he said, cutting the link.

Anakin surged to his feet, Lightsaber already in hand. "I'm going with you."

"I don't have time to nurture your pursuit of revenge, Skywalker! Stay with Obi-wan, in case she comes after him," Mace ordered. Anakin shook his head.

"No. Obi-wan isn't here to finish what he started. That makes this _my_ fight," he growled. Kennor stood.

"And mine," he said, raising his chin defiantly.

"Ahsoka and I will stay with Obi-wan, in case Ventress comes here to finish what _she_ started," Xanatos volunteered. Ahsoka gave a single determined nod.

"Qui-gon, Bant and I will lock down the Temple," Garen said. "If that Sith-witch thinks she is welcome _here_ , there will be an army of Jedi waiting to disprove the theory!"

"Padme, help me and Tilda on the streets? An insane Sith assassin will have caused mass panic by now," Sentara invited, but Padme shook her head. Siri's crystal burned against her collarbone.

"I'm staying with Obi-wan," she told her.

Mace rolled his eyes. "Fine! Let's _move out_ , everyone!"


	6. Chapter 6

The Younglings were stashed away inside of their creches, the Padawans hidden in their quarters or by their masters. Jedi Knights patrolled the entryways and exits. Jedi Masters sat atop the roof of the Temple spirals, eyes trained on the horizon and senses attuned to the starfighters that suddenly zoomed out of Temple hangars.

Padme, meanwhile, sat by Obi-wan's bedside, holding his hand. Ahsoka stood outside the med bay doors, at attention. Xanatos stood across from Padme, arms crossed as he regarded the screen that Bant had dragged in. Three diamonds, colored red, blue and green, raced toward the underground of Courascant.

"She's heading to the Red Light district," Master Plo's voice garbled from the command center across the Temple. The diamonds switched direction, heading east.

"Copy that," Kennor replied.

Padme played with Obi-wan's fingers on the bed. "Which one is Anakin?" She asked, maybe for them both, tonelessly. Xanatos glanced at her.

"He's always red," he replied. Padme nodded. Made sense. Red for anger, for passion, for impatience.

She felt as if she were in a daze, half asking because of her own anxiety and half because she knew it was what Obi-wan would have wanted. This state of in between was… Disturbing. "What will they do if they find her?"

"We both know what Anakin wants to do," yes, but what would Obi-wan want? Padme squeezed the lax hand in hers. Ventress should not have been a match for three Jedi, but what if she was? What then?

"We have a visual on her," Mace reported. "She's right below us."

"Stun her, can you?" Master Yaddle asked.

Windu hummed thoughtfully. "No… She's swerving too much, and she's in a crowded district. We'd risk hitting civilians… Kennor, look out!" Mace cried, suddenly. The blue dot suddenly veered sharply to the left before spinning in midair, wildly. Padme's breath got stuck in her chest. Xanatos's hand curled around his saber.

"Master Windu, report!" Plor commanded in the silence that followed.

"She just used _The Force_ to fling a speeder at us!" Anakin yelled, outraged. _Well, this day is starting to spiral_ , Padme thought, a bit hysterically.

"She must have found a way to take her Force dampener off. Is everyone alright?" Qui-gon suddenly entered the room, mouth set into a determined line. Xanatos greeted him with a nod. Padme did likewise as Qui-gon hovered to the foot of Obi-wan's bedside, squeezing one unresponsive foot.

"We're fine, master."

"I have an idea, and she's in range," Anakin told them over the comms. Padme had a bad feeling about this. "I'm going to _end this_ ," Anakin growled darkly. The red dot sped ahead of the others.

"Anakin," Mace warned. "Don't do anything you may regret," Padme could have face palmed. Only an idiot would caution Anakin of that right now.

"The only thing I regret is not killing this witch when I had the chance!"

"Anakin…" Kennor tried, but the red dot only continued gaining speed, dipping between barriers Padme could not see on the screen, but somehow knew made Anakin's actions the opposite of responsible.

"Ani, no! Blast it! I _hate_ it when he does this!" Kennor roared, in a rare break of Jedi decorum. Padme wished she were there to see things from that perspective.

"What now?" Master Yoda groaned.

"Skywalker just jumped out of his starfighter and is currently spiraling to the ground to engage Ventress," Windu told them dryly.

"He's going to get himself killed!" Qui-gon cursed. Padme let out a long breath. She doubted Ani would have thought about that before doing it. He was the Chosen One, unbreakable, undefeated and right now, _very_ pissed off.

"Skywalker has given chase. They're going to get someone hurt, Force blast! Kennor, can you…?"

"I'll cut around the back, master," the blue dot broke away, skimming around what Padme assumed were very tall buildings in the middle of the Republic's biggest city.

"What are they doing?" Padme asked, eyes swiveling from Xanatos to Qui-gon for an answer. "What's their plan?" Qui-gon shifted in his seat.

"Anakin will hopefully chase Ventress right to the edge of Lower Courascant. The only way out from there is down to the next level. She'll jump and either Kennor or Mace will catch her," good plan, if not risky.

"The Chancellor won't like this," Master Plo warned Mace in a low voice. Padme pressed her mouth to the comm.

"Let me worry about The Chancellor, Master Jedi," she informed him staunchly. "Just catch her before she does too much damage." Her stomach roiled queasily. Padme pressed a hand to it, breathing deeply.

Master Plo somehow found a way to inject humor into the situation, a trademark of Jedi. "Well, at least you have sense where your husband does not. I thought you were supposed to be a calming influence, Padme?" She smiled at the meager joke.

"He's not very good at following orders, even if they come from me," she said with not a hint of apology. Anakin's independent nature was what had made her fall in love with him in the first place. Still, he was going to get an earful when this was all over.

"We're all doomed, then," Master Plo drawled.

"Almost there, masters," Kennor broke in. "Almost there… Blast it! No! She's taken another hostage!"

"Who?"

"Heartless witch! It's a child. A Rodian girl. Ventress has a knife to her neck. Anakin is standing across from her. A standoff."

"Things just got interesting," Xanatos muttered.

"Anakin, would you…! What in the _Hells_ is he doing?!" Kennor demanded, aghast.

"Where did he get those?" Mace demanded, his voice taut with tension and tightly controlled ire.

"Would someone please explain what's happening?" Master Plo requested, calmly.

"Who gave Skywalker Ventress's lightsabers!?" Mace exploded. "Whoever it was, I want them _beheaded_! He's just given her those weapons back. Is he absolutely insane?" Padme's heart skipped a beat. Anakin was insane. Insane with anger and sorrow and a grief so strong it threatened to end the galaxy.

"He's going to fight her," she whispered. "He's going to kill her in battle!" Or, as Anakin would have had it, he was going to _take justice into his own hands_. He was an idiot. Qui-gon's face was grave.

"If he kills her in cold blood, he'll be violating the Jedi Code," he said. And they all knew the consequences of that.

"If his bloodlust causes the death of a child, he'll be violating more than just _our_ code, master," Xanatos corrected grimly. _Ani, don't do this. This isn't the way._

"What's happening?"

"She's accepted the challenge. She just released the child," Padme exhaled a breath of relief.

"I will go down there," Mace determined. "Kennor, stand by in case you're needed. Skywalker could have picked a fight somewhere that wasn't the busiest restaurant district in the lower levels," he grumbled.

"This is what happens when Obi-wan isn't around to keep him in line," Xanatos breathed ruefully. "Force, Padme, don't ever get captured. He'll just burn the entire planet down!" Padme sent him a heated glance. Now was _not_ the time for that, mainly because it was true.

"Copy that, Master Windu."

Another long silence. From far away, Padme could hear the hum of lightsabers and grunts of battle, drowned by interference. Ahsoka stuck her head in, leaning against the doorway.

"Force above!" Kennor gasped after the longest fifteen minutes of Padme's life. "She just disarmed _Mace Windu!"_ Yep. They were going to die.

"Strong pawn of the Dark Side, she is," Yoda rumbled sadly. "Skywalker?"

"He's holding his own for now, but… He's fighting with anger, master," Padme could hear the reluctance in Kennor's voice to admit it. Fighting with anger was not the Jedi Way. Padme was tired of being helpless. She was not going to sit here while her husband became something he was not, did things that would cost him _his family_. She pressed the comm. Link to her mouth.

"Kennor, tell my husband that if he does not get his act together right now…"

"I can't, Padme. His comm. is off…"

"Then go down there and stop him!"

"And allow Ventress to get away if he is defeated? I will not. He's on his own now," Padme bit her bottom lip and squeezed Obi-wan's hand in her own, hard. Of all the stupid things that Anakin could have done to avenge Obi-wan… Of all the idiotic adventures he had committed himself too, this had to be the top.

"Come on, Anakin…." She muttered.

"Anakin just disarmed her…" Ahsoka cocked both brows.

"She's on the ground. No… Blast it Anakin!" Padme's heart jumped in her throat. If he murdered Ventress while she was unarmed…

Suddenly, making all five of them jump, the man on the bed sat straight up with a gasp of newborn's life. "Anakin!" Obi-wan whispered hoarsely. Padme stared at him, stupefied.

"Master?" Ahsoka choked, eyes wide. Obi-wan was staring straight ahead, past them, into The Force. His entire body trembled with exertion and command, his fists knotted tightly in the sheets. The heart monitor next to his bed shrieked with alarm. Padme still had Obi-wan's hand in her own, and now he was squeezing hers, _hard._

"Obi-wan," Qui-gon whispered, eyes wet. He reached forward, but Obi-wan did not look at him or notice his presence. He was squinting balefully into the distance, imploring the person on the other side of the city to _stand down._

"Anakin!" Obi-wan called. "Anakin, don't do this. Don't kill her."

"What's happening?" Kennor breathed. "He just stopped." Padme met Ahsoka's eyes, also full of astonishment, before looking back to Obi-wan. She squeezed his hand in return.

Obi-wan's chest was heaving, his body trembling as he spent the rest of his considerable strength upon saving his former Padawan's soul. "This isn't justice, Anakin. She can still be saved. You do this, there is no bringing you back. For your child's sake, stop now," Obi-wan whispered, imploringly. Padme felt her blood run cold.

Xanatos swiveled to face her, mouth agape. "Child?" He squawked. Padme put a hand to her stomach, sheepishly.

"Child," she confirmed. The other members of the family gawked, mouths agape. "I only found out this morning! I haven't had a chance to tell anyone!" She cried defensively.

"Where did you two even _find the time_?"

Qui-gon swatted at him instinctively. "Xanatos!"

"I'm just saying!"

"Anakin," Obi-wan whispered again, eyelashes fluttering. His time was running out. "Padawan. Please. Put it down," Obi-wan wavered in his bed. "Stand down, Anakin."

They waited in excruciating silence for a long second before Obi-wan collapsed back into the bed with an exclamation of pain. "Yes!" Kennor shouted, exhilarated. "A clean knock out! Let's collect the prisoner. Master Windu, do you hear me? Did you see that?"

"I did. Skywalker dodged a very big bullet just then and… Where is he going _now_?!" Mace yelled as suddenly the red diamond swiveled around and headed in the direction of The Temple. Obi-wan chuckled brokenly beneath them.

"Thank you, Anakin," he whispered, eyes closing. His hand started to relax in Padme's grip. "Thank you." Then it was lax, and the heart monitor screamed as a flat line skewered its screen.

"Obi-wan!" At once, temple healers had rushed past them, Bant in the lead.

"Out!" she ordered them, shoving the screen away. "Go! I'll handle this!" _No. No._ _This can't be happening. Not again._ Padme reached out, as if her touch could bring Obi-wan back, but Xanatos put a hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her out.

Qui-gon went without protest, shocked into submission. When they had exited the med bay, Padme leaned against the wall and slowly sunk to the ground. Ahsoka did likewise beside her, and Xanatos on the left of them. Qui-gon remained hovering, face turned to stone.

"Out of all the… He couldn't even remember his own name last time," Xanatos whispered. "But this time he could remember Anakin's?"

Qui-gon's mouth perked at the edges. "Instinctive terror response," he reminded his former apprentice. "Last time he was terrified for his life, this time terrified for Anakin's soul. Tell me, which one would be a greater motivator for Obi-wan to spend his last bit of self on?" he asked, brokenly, but with infinite pride. Padme pressed a hand to her stomach, and smiled. Then laughed aloud.

Xanatos chuckled brokenly, crossing his arms in pretend pettiness. "Attachment," he huffed. "Bunch of code-breakers," Padme shook her head, her own chest bubbling with hysterical giggles.

" _Love_ ," she corrected as her laughter caught on, and then they were all hysterically giggling. Both for the desperate relief of the moment, and to hide their tears that it had been so short lived. "Stupid love!"


	7. Chapter 7

Twenty minutes later, Anakin and Kennor skidded to a halt outside the med bay doors. Sentara walked up at a more leveled pace. She had a few bruises on her arms, but otherwise was grinning from ear to ear. Padme stood when she saw Anakin coming and gasped as he swept her into his arms, laughing riotously.

"You're pregnant!?" He asked, giddily. Padme smiled, nodding.

"I found out this morning," she admitted. "I was going to tell you tonight, but I guess Obi-wan just couldn't wait!" Anakin's eyes were alight with joy and love. He pressed his forehead to hers, stroking her cheek.

"Good on him! Congratulations, angel," he whispered, overjoyed. "We're going to be parents," Padme grinned and accepted the jubilatory kiss. Sentara clasped her shoulder happily.

"Where is he?" Kennor wheezed, hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. Keeping up with Anakin was not easy, Padme knew. "Where's Obi-wan?" Padme's joy faded as she looked back at the medical bay. The doors were still closed.

"He…" Her voice cracked.

"Anakin," Qui-gon said, his eyes gentle. "He used all his strength to send you that message. Afterwards, he… His heart stopped," Anakin paled. It was at that moment that the med bay doors opened and Bant stepped out.

Anakin stepped up quickly. "How is he?" Bant shook her head. A tear dribbled down her cheek, but she gave Anakin a watery smile.

"It's his choice now. I'm not forcing him to spend another second hooked up to those infernal machines!" she told him firmly. Anakin's face crumpled.

"But… But he woke up!"

"He's too _weak,_ Ani. The only thing tethering him here is… You," Bant reached up and cupped Anakin's face with webbed fingers. "Let him choose for himself. If it's the Will of The Force, let him be with Siri. Let him go," she commanded. Anakin's shoulders slumped.

"I… I can't," he whispered brokenly. "He's my master."

"And he loves you," Padme agreed, stepping up to grip his hand in her own. " _So much,_ Anakin. But this must end eventually. Come on," she tugged him toward Obi-wan's room gently. "Let's tell him we love him, and if he decides to go, say goodbye." Anakin looked up, a tear dribbling down his cheek. Finally, he exhaled a shuddering breath and nodded.

Slowly the family filed into the room and around Obi-wan's bedside. The line on the heart monitor stumbled over itself weakly. Bant knelt by the switch at the bottom of his monitor, eyes twinkling with pride… And sadness. Anakin was the last to walk in, eyes downcast.

Qui-gon was at Obi-wan's right side, gazing into his latest son's face with immeasurable love. He gently swiped a lock of hair away, his own long strands of hair falling loosely around his face. "I remember when there was a braid behind this ear," he muttered, gently pushing the bangs back.

"You asked me once, long ago, if I regretted taking you as an apprentice when there were others you thought would have worked with me better," Qui-gon chuckled softly and exhaled a quivering breath. "Oh, my Obi-wan," he sighed, merely.

Then, Xanatos stepped into his spot, awkwardly. "Alright, little brother," he addressed him. "This is it. The moment we've all been waiting for. You can admit it now. You always liked me better than Kennor," Bant snorted. Padme wondered if Xanatos comprehended the fact that Obi-wan was unconscious.

"Are you serious, 'Natos?" Kennor cried, scandalized.

"I just want the truth!"

"Move aside, you fool! If there was ever a moment Obi-wan liked you more- and I doubt it- it's gone now. You've ruined it!" Padme could not help but giggle at their silly antics as the two older Jedi in Obi-wan's line took up post next to their last brother. Kennor sighed, stuffing his hands into opposite sleeves to retain some semblance of control.

"It goes against nature for an older brother to bury his youngest," he murmured sadly.

"We aren't going to bury him. We're going to set him on fire," Anakin cringed. Sentara smacked Xanatos behind his head.

"Xanatos DuCrion! Shut up and speak to your brother right now!" She scolded him sternly. Xanatos opened his mouth, no doubt prepared to make an unwise but witty comment, when he glanced over at the heart monitor. The line dipped in and out like a bee zipping through the air, landing and taking off in equal measure. Always fulfilling its duty to the hive. Until the day when it couldn't fly anymore.

Xanatos blinked rapidly. "I'll be good," he promised Obi-wan in a tender voice. He reached down and placed a hand on Obi-wan's that was joined by Kennor. "I'll train younglings, save damsels, do brave things. I'll be good, Obi-wan. I swear," Xanatos repeated, voice trembling. Kennor laid a hand on his shoulder as a tear trickled down his cheek.

"You've always been _my_ favorite," Kennor whispered. "I just want you to know that. Even when you were a _conceited, code-spouting ass_ , you were my favorite," he dipped his head and moved Xanatos away. It occurred to Padme that they were all saying their permanent goodbyes. This was not a what if scenario. Obi-wan was going to die. Not if. _When._ Padme's heart contracted in her chest.

Sentara reached out and gripped Ahsoka's fingers. "We can do this," she said. Ahsoka bit her bottom lip, looking to Anakin for guidance. He was staring at Obi-wan, though, eyes far away. So Ahsoka nodded and moved forward, the two of them standing so close that Padme saw they breathed as one.

Sentara reached out and straightened Obi-wan's collar in a sisterly fashion. "Now," she began, firmly, but stopped there, as if realizing this was the last time she would ever begin authorizing Obi-wan Kenobi. Her voice wavered but Sentara went on.

"Now," she repeated, softer. "Don't worry. The children will be fine, they'll continue their training and probably stay close to home. I know you… I know you worried about them. I'll keep the delinquent out of trouble, by that I mean Xanatos," said delinquent smiled, tremulously.

"I'll help Padme and Ani with the baby. I'll convince Anakin to eventually Knight his apprentice and make sure Kennor and Qui-gon keep their heads out of their asses," Sentara choked on her own brittle laugh, still fidgeting with Obi-wan's collar. Another few tears dribbled down her nose. "We'll stay true. We'll stay strong. We'll stay Jedi," she whispered.

Ahsoka knelt by Obi-wan's side, head cocked and hand pressed to his. "I can't remember how many nights you stayed up late with me, helping me study or practice my lightsaber forms," she said. She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. "I thought Master Skywalker was supposed to train me, but I was lucky enough to get two teachers," Ahsoka smiled, opening her eyes. "Thank you, my master," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead. She and Sentara stepped away, shoulders quivering with silent tears.

Padme looked at Anakin. "Ani?" He shook his head. So Padme went first, sitting at Obi-wan's side. "You were so kind to me when I got here," she reflected, twisting Siri's necklace in one hand.

"I was scared and young and uncertain… And you made me feel like I could _belong_ , if I wanted too," Padme choked on a giggle. "You also made me a lot of tea," she remembered. "I can't… I can't repay you, but this baby?" She gently pressed a hand to her stomach, and though her heart was heavy with grief, her soul was alight with a joy no one could conquer. She knew Obi-wan would have been happy for her too.

"This baby will grow up hearing every story I can think of or make up about a Jedi named Obi-wan Kenobi," and that was wall she could give him. A Legacy in the next generation. A spot in their hearts if he could not be present in the home. "I'll look after Ani for you," she added. "Always."

She turned around as her throat closed with sorrow. Anakin was staring at her with tears running down both cheeks, his large azure eyes drowning in a dread so complete he looked like a little boy again. "Anakin?" Qui-gon asked, compassionately. Anakin pressed his mechanical fist to his mouth.

"I… I don't think I can…" Confessed the proudest Jedi in the Order.

"It's alright," Kennor assuaged him. "Obi-wan knows how much you care about him," he said.

"But…" Anakin exhaled slowly. "I'm the reason he won't let go!" he said, and the words were wrenching in their sincerity. "I have to let _him_ go."

Padme vacated her seat and Anakin carefully maneuvered himself into it, fingers twiddling in his lap. "Hi Master," he greeted, instinctively. "Listen… T-This is hard for me. I've never been good with words like you, and you know I have attachment issues but… I can do this," Anakin drew himself up, swiped at his tears resolutely.

"I'll be ok. Promise." Anakin leaned forward, grasped Obi-wan's hand in both of his and burrowed against Obi-wan's side like a nine-year-old, frightened and heartbroken after leaving his mother behind.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For never giving up on me, even when it would have served me right. Thank you for…" Anakin licked his lips. "Dammit, for the adventure of a lifetime! I'm _a Jedi_ because of you!" The Chosen One laughed aloud, his joy a brief distress flare in the middle of space.

Help wasn't coming.

Anakin looked up, titling his face to the ceiling as if in prayer for a moment before he gritted his teeth. "But I have one more favor to ask: if this place hurts you, then kriff it all _,_ you _leave_!" he commanded. "Go, Obi-wan! I'll be ok. I just… I want you to be happy, ya know? I just want…" Anakin sobbed aloud, pressing his forehead to Obi-wan's hand beseechingly. "You're such a good friend," he whimpered. "But you can go now, if you want," Anakin looked up, and gestured to Bant that she could do it if she was ready. Bant closed her large eyes for a moment.

"Until we meet again, my friend," and pressed the button. The machines whirred a last long hum as they powered down. Obi-wan chest rose laboriously once, twice, then fell flat and did not rise again. Anakin's hands fisted in the blankets around him as he bit out a sob. The lights flickered as his grief tore through The Force.

Padme closed her eyes. Then, startling them all, a small voice croaked out in the darkness of their loss.

"Well, this looks… Dreadful. What'd I miss?"


	8. Chapter 8

_Three months later:_

"I hate my life," Padme groaned from the bed, as her feet throbbed in rhythm with her head. The steady weight against her spine felt like it would make it snap any minute now and her _breasts_ ….

Life wasn't fair. Padme blamed Anakin, really. Sentara clucked sympathetically as she walked into the room with a tray of tea, followed by Ahsoka and Kennor. Tilda sat at her side, gently rocking one of the newest babies brought to the temple in her arms.

The cooing bundle was giving Padme a gummy smile, chewing on the end of one short head tail. He was Togruta, like Ahsoka, and his stripes undulated in color as he grew sleepier in Sentara's arms. Padme grinned and waved happily, one hand slipping beneath her shirt to caress her swelled stomach. She had two sleepy bundles of her own, resting directly beneath her heart.

Sentara had rightfully assumed that seeing the tiny baby would cheer Padme up. Nevertheless, not even the giggling child could make her forget that morning sickness was _stupid_.

The holovision in front of her flickered as Padme jabbed at the controls to the remote. "What channel was it again?" She groaned.

"Somewhere in the thousandths, I think. How are you feeling, Padme?" Kennor inquired as he walked into the room, a warm bundle held beneath one long arm. He bent over to place a gentle kiss on his wife's forehead. Padme stuck him with a scornful glare.

"You aren't my husband."

Kennor's mouth quirked at the edges. His eyes sparkled. "No."

"Find him so I can beat him with a stick. _Ugh._ Why don't men have these issues?" Padme demanded, throwing a hand over her eyes. The baby was only three months old now, and _they_ insisted on being difficult. They obviously took after its father.

Padme couldn't be more overjoyed.

Kennor shrugged. "Men don't have the bravery, or the right equipment, I'm afraid. I brought you White blossom bread, as per your request," finally, someone has some worth in her life! Padme nodded and gratefully accepted the basket of warm bread he brandished.

"You're an angel, Kennor," she breathed. "I've been craving this for days now."

"You said you wanted it two hours ago," Tilda pointed out, having never had children of her own and thus ignorant. Sentara chuckled as Qui-gon and Xanatos strode in, speaking quietly between them.

"Here, Padme," Ahsoka gently took the remote and turned it to the right channel. At once, Padme heard applause.

"Speaking of which," Anayel was saying from the screen. Her grin split her face, and Padme felt her expression softening into a similar expression when she saw a certain bearded Jedi on screen. "Rumor has it your wife, Senator Padme Skywalker, is pregnant?" Anakin beamed. It had taken Padme an hour to convince him to attend this interview, but it was well worth it to see him at Obi-wan's side again.

 _The Team_ was back in business.

"We are," Anakin agreed, proudly. He winked at the screen. "Love you, angel!" Padme screwed her lips into a displeased line.

" _We_?" She scoffed. "Since when is _he_ carrying living beings inside him?" Sentara patted her hand sympathetically.

"It'll all be over in roughly nineteen years, dear," she assuaged her. Padme choked on her next inhalation of breath.

"Congratulations! Good news on top of good news! We are also very pleased to announce that Master Kenobi is alive and hearty! How are you feeling, Master Jedi?" Anayel asked the real star of her show. Obi-wan, still a bit pale and wan in the light, smiled calmly.

"Alive and hearty," he replied, much to the amusement of the audience. "It's good to be allowed out of my bed. I've been confined since I woke up," he admitted.

"That's because if we didn't confine you to your bed, you'd go gallivanting across the galaxy before you were properly healed," Anakin promptly butted in. The audience tittered because _they_ thought he was joking. Anayel propped her chin in her hands, watching them with no small amount of hero worship. So long as she kept her hands to herself, Padme decided, she could look all she wanted.

"Hear, hear!" Qui-gon snorted, contentedly. "Kennor," he addressed the eldest. "Any word from Mace on Ventress's condition?" He asked. Kennor shrugged.

"The daily visits from our esteemed Master Kenobi seem to do her some good. She's… slightly less insane, I hear," he reported, with forced cheer. None of them would ever quite forget what Asajj Ventress had done to their friend and brother, but Obi-wan had forgiven her, so they were forced too as well. Albeit, reluctantly.

 _The Team_ had evidently forgotten that they were on galactic holovision. "I've been healed for _months,_ Anakin," Obi-wan said, taking up the perennial debate once more. Anakin crossed his arms sternly.

"Fine. You'd go gallivanting across the galaxy before _I_ could approve your general health," Anayel barked a laugh. Padme smiled, thinking that Anakin would make a wonderful father. She patted Ahsoka's hand.

"Hey you. Has your master brought up the idea of being godmother yet?" She asked. Ahsoka nodded, her cheeks tinted purple as she blushed.

"Yes. I accepted with honor," Ahsoka turned her eyes to the screen. "Along with someone else I know," she began, mischievously.

"Force knew why Obi-wan was so surprised," Qui-gon snorted. Padme nodded in agreement.

"I imagine these have not been an easy few months for either of you," Anayel observed sympathetically. Anakin and Obi-wan exchanged a glance full of unspoken meanings. Padme tried not to think about how easily they could have lost him. "Still, the universe wants to know, Master Skywalker, this is how many times you've saved your former teacher now? Three hundred?" Anakin chuckled in time with the audience.

"Don't remind him, Anayel!" Obi-wan moaned.

"I'm afraid I must, Master Kenobi. After all, doesn't this latest rescue guarantee Master Skywalker bragging rights?" Anayel inquired impishly.

"He'll brag with or without the right," Obi-wan sneered with a teasing glance at his former apprentice. Anakin's eyes twinkled and he reached over to squeeze Obi-wan's arm. Anayel laughed and shook a finger at them.

"Fair's fair, Master Kenobi!" she chided.

Anakin shook his head, smiling. "Normally, I would brag," he agreed. "However, I could save Obi-wan's life every day for the rest of our lives, and it still would not make us even, Anayel," he said.

"I know that humility is the Jedi Way, but would you care to elaborate?" Anayel asked, sounding surprised, but taking the comment in stride. Obi-wan was also squinting at his former apprentice with suspicion, obviously feeling something off in the universal life currents. Anakin was rarely humble. Padme was wondering what he was up too as well.

Anakin did not look at Obi-wan as he continued, eyes far away as he thoughtfully proclaimed: "Well... You know, I was just a snot-nosed slave boy from the Outer Rim when Master Qui-gon Jinn found me. Obi-wan, technically, did not have to train me. He didn't have to care about me at all. And he certainly did not have to believe in me, but he did and he _does_. I can't recall a time when my old master's strength and compassion has not saved me in some form or another," Anakin glanced affectionately at the completely red face of his former teacher.

Padme smiled. _You sneaky barve_. "I only wish every student could have had a teacher- and a best friend- like Obi-wan Kenobi," he finished.

"Ahhh!" Sentara, Padme and Tilda cried in unison, hearts twisting. The audience cheered uproariously.

"Oh, I see! So, _Anakin_ is his favorite!" Xanatos called from the doorway, but he was smiling.

"The truth comes out," Kennor agreed dramatically. "Attachment always wins in the end, 'Natos. Mark my words," he tsked. Xanatos screwed his lips into a displeased line.

"Pair of code-breakers, those two."

"Damn straight," Padme rolled her eyes as her comm. Link chimed. Padme felt a headache throb behind her temples at the sound. _Oh,_ _ **come on…**_ She put it to her lips.

"Captain Typho? Please tell me I'm not needed?"

At least Typho sounded as if he cared. "Sorry, Senator. The show goes on," Padme groaned and laid her head back against the dense mass of pillows. Life. Was. Not. Fair. Sentara patted her shoulder.

"Me and Ahsoka will accompany you," she assured her. Padme let her head loll to the side, grateful but unwilling to drag others into the mess of politics.

"You don't have too. I can manage," she said. Ahsoka snorted, gently grabbing one of Padme's arms to haul her upright. Sentara pressed a gentle palm against her shoulder blade, pushing.

"My dear Padme, what is family for?"

True. Very, very true. Padme grinned and allowed herself to be helped up. It was as Captain Typho had said. The show must go on. "And I will do what I must," Padme murmured, patting her stomach, where babies waited to meet the new, wide galaxy and the galaxy awaited new lives. Padme flung the blankets back and accepted a hand up from Ahsoka and Kennor, wobbling precariously. "Let's go spread some light."

And across the galaxy, Obi-wan's mouth quirked into a tiny grin of knowing as he winked at the camera.


End file.
